Category: Book Reviews

People—maybe young adults in particular—are inherently fascinated with relationship. Which makes Deborah Heiligman’s choice of subject so compelling even before you start reading “Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers” (Holt 2017). The Van Gogh brothers from the Netherlands come…

In “Exit Pursued by a Bear” (Dutton 2016) by E.K. Johnston, high school senior Hermione Winters is captain of the cheerleading squad. Polly, her best friend, is co-captain and the friend that everyone on earth needs. The championship cheerleading squad…

Be warned. You could become an activist after reading Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time (Wendy Lamb Books 2017) by the remarkable Tanya Lee Stone. Follow twenty five girls world-wide who were denied education, fought back,…

What a moving and timely story! Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter lives in the black ghetto of Garden Heights and goes to a white private Williamson in “The Hate U Give” (2017 Balzer & Bray) by Angie Thomas. At her white school…

Rowan Chase, 17, the daughter of a white oil magnate father and a black lawyer mother finds a skeleton under the floorboards in the “back house” of her spiffy Greenwood area Tulsa home in “Dreamland Burning” (Little Brown 2017) by…

Affable Adam, a senior, appears to have a perfect life. Maybe he’s a little wired, but he’s lovable, affable, and he’s everyone’s friend. His Mom deals with his ADHD with homeopathic drops so he’s on no hard medications. His elective…

What a perfect cast for a love story! Natasha, 17, is slated to be deported from New York City with her family, back to Jamaica. Daniel’s parents immigrated from Korea and had their children in the U.S. They run an…

“The Passion of Dolssa” (Viking 2016) by Julie Berry is certainly an oddity in the world of young adult literature—and what a terrific oddity. The subject matter will not be found in many U.S. high school curriculums. Set in 13th…

U.S. Congressman John Lewis from Georgia was having a meeting with his 2008 re-election committee, when staff member, Andrew Aydin, mentioned he was on his way to a comic book convention. When other committee members teased Aydin, Lewis remembered that…